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French After Life - Cauchemar, 1975 [Fresh Vinyl Rip]

by Mistah Wilson -

 




From discogs:
Wide-ranging French rock band from Lyon (1969-1975). 

A good (critical) review from big prog collector apps on rym:

A French band, mainly singing in English with one and only album, released in Spain!
Strange case this After Life group, who's main figure appears to be French underground composer Jean-Pierre Massiera.  After Life employeed several members in a stint of about 5-7 years with Roddy Julienne playing  the acoustic guitar and singing, Ralph Benatar, Bernard Monerri and René Mémé handling the electric ones, Xavier Dubois as the bassist, Hervé Duclos performing on keyboards and Jose Muñoz responsible for the drumming (apparently a Spanish citizen).  The music comes as a definition of inconsistency, it's all over the place with fading Psychedelic Rock as the basic guiding light, leading to several, different styles, some of which sound completely dated.''Cauchemar'' (1975, Discophon) contain some tracks close to Alice, a bit of Theatrical Rock with standard French drama qualities on the singing parts and a sound somewhere between Psych and Progressive Rock.  Other tracks remind me of Strawbs, a mellow Psych/Art Rock with some folky vibes and soft electric guitars and keyboards throughout, but there are also many dull moments of uninteresting Psychedelic/Blues Rock.Musical extensions do not stop here, several tracks visit some light jazzy qualities and the bass work reveals an evident funky approach, similar to compatriots Nemo.  A sought-after release, ''Cauchemar'' is absolutely confusing of a release with many 60's leftovers (strong use of harmonica, psychedelic overtones, guitar/piano-based grooves) and does not actually meet the value of its fame.  Several Massiera-related works out there are much more interesting, this goes mainly for fans of dated Psychedelic Rock.

It's definitely inconsistent but has some nice moments, at least I've always remembered it that way.  Also note that a mono rip has been circulating online forever, so the (good) music did require upgrading.

The first track with its crashing dramatic chords, called Cauchemar (nightmare), sounds quite insistently like the classic French band Ange:




Le secret de la vieille dame recalls so much I've posted here before, like Le Chien des Dunes, Mor - Stations, etc. etc. and I admit I have a weakness for this kind of rambly French songwriting:




Too bad it's so short!  It's a good composition.

Posology reveals the psych side of the things mentioned above, btw that's a great word, referring to dosages of drugs:




Unfortunately the remainder of the album is, as mentioned, surprisingly generic, bland, and simplistic.






source https://progressreview.blogspot.com/2025/05/french-after-life-cauchemar-1975-fresh.html

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